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Sinn Fein becomes largest party in Northern Ireland local elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein made sweeping gains in Northern Ireland’s local elections, repeating its success from last year’s assembly elections, when it became the largest party for the first time. With counting completed late Saturday, Sinn Fein, which seeks unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, took 144 of 462 local government seats. Its main rival, the Democratic Unionist Party, captured 122 seats, while the centrist Alliance Party had 67. Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s vice president, said the results were “momentous.” She added that her party’s success was a message from voters that Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government, which has been paralyzed for over a year, must get back to business. The semi-autonomous Belfast government has been suspended since the DUP, which wants to keep Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom, walked out more than a year ago to protest a post-Brexit customs border between Northern...

Alabama police: 4 people wounded in exchange of gunfire outside Birmingham bar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Four people were shot and wounded outside an Alabama bar early Sunday in what police described as an exchange of gunfire.Birmingham Police Lt. Ron Harless said three men and a woman were shot outside Tin Roof in the city’s Lakeview District, AL.com reported.The shooting was reported around 12:45 a.m. to an off-duty Birmingham police officer who was working inside Tin Roof.Police and Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service responded and found a man who had been shot and a woman who was grazed by a bullet in the parking lot.An SUV reportedly fled the scene and was pulled over nearby. Two seriously wounded men, including one with life-threatening injuries, were in the vehicle.All four gunshot victims were transported to UAB Hospital.The shooting was under investigation, police said.The Associated Press

Other voices: Electric vehicles alone can’t solve climate change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

Arresting climate change requires, among other things, the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. But managing the transition from gas-powered cars won’t be easy. President Joe Biden’s administration has proposed new rules to sharply limit tailpipe emissions, with the aim of compelling automakers to devote at least two-thirds of new sales to EVs within the next decade. For this policy to work, the government will have to get a lot of other things right.The logic behind the plan is straightforward: To eliminate carbon emissions by 2050, the US needs to slash pollution from cars and trucks. Getting more electric vehicles on the road will help. But without supporting policies, EVs are unlikely to cut carbon emissions as much as advocates envision. Policymakers owe the public an honest accounting of costs and benefits.Worldwide, EVs account for 13% of new car sales, up from 0.2% a decade ago. Their market share in the U.S. has nearly doubled over the last year, to 5.8%, t...

Ask Amy: What happened to make Gen Xers so rude like this?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

Dear Amy: You and I are about the same age, and I’m wondering if some of our peers did something wrong raising their kids?When I walk in my suburban neighborhood (I’ve done this every day for years), I say hello to everyone, whether they are sitting on their porch, or out walking the same or opposite way as me.Most everyone the same age as me (or older) returns the greeting.Everyone from approximately age 50 and below will either glare at me or act like I’m not there.Amy, what is up with that? Why is it acceptable to be so rude?These are not children, so “not talking to strangers” is not the problem!What is your take on this?Perplexed in SuburbiaDear Perplexed: During my travels, I’ve noted general regional differences regarding how outwardly “friendly” strangers are to one another.I was raised in an area that is overall on the far less-friendly side of the spectrum (whereas I tend to be more outgoing). It has never occurred to me that this behavior might be generational, however.I’...

Ucrania desmiente la última afirmación de Wagner de que las fuerzas rusas han capturado Bakhmut

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

(CNN) — El presidente de Ucrania, Volodymyr Zelensky, negó que Bakhmut haya caído en manos de Rusia, después de que el jefe del grupo mercenario Wagner afirmara que sus fuerzas habían tomado el control total de la ciudad del este ucraniano tras meses de combates brutales.“La operación para capturar Bakhmut duró 224 días”, dijo Yevgeny Prigozhin en un video publicado en Telegram el sábado, buscando declarar una victoria final en la ciudad.CNN no pudo verificar de forma independiente la afirmación de Prigozhin, que ha sido rebatida por la parte ucraniana.“El presidente ha negado que Bakhmut haya sido tomada”, declaró posteriormente a CNN Sergiy Nykyforov, portavoz de Zelensky.Zelensky se reunió el domingo con el presidente de EE.UU., Joe Biden, al margen de la cumbre del Grupo de los Siete (G7) en Japón, donde los periodistas le preguntaron si Rusia había tomado la ciudad.“Creo que no”, respondió, pero reconoció que quedaba poco.“No qued...

John Cena dice que se arrepiente de su pelea con Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson cuando volvió a la WWE

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

(CNN) — John Cena admitió que se siente “miope y egoísta” por haber iniciado una disputa con Dwayne Johnson hace una década, cuando se enfrentaron como grandes estrellas de la WWE.En el episodio del jueves del podcast “Happy Sad Confused”, Cena dijo que “le gustaría pensar” que la pareja —ambos se han convertido en grandes estrellas de Hollywood, compartiendo créditos en la pantalla en “Fast X” de este año— “siempre ha estado bien, excepto por un pequeño parche en el que realmente me equivoqué”.Cena se refería al momento en 2011 cuando Johnson, ya una estrella de cine, regresó a la WWE después de haberla dejado casi una década antes. En aquel momento, Cena se lo tomó como una provocación y una oportunidad para “llamarle la atención” por volver, y retarle a luchar.El actor de “Trainwreck” explicó que “egoísta”. “El hecho de que yo viviera en la WWE en ese momento y no tuviera n...

UN chief backs reform of Security Council, global financial system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres backed the reform of the U.N. Security Council and the international financial system to align them with the “realities of today’s world.”Both the U.N. body and the financial architecture reflect the power relations of 1945 and need to be updated, Guterres told a press conference Sunday on the margins of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, according to Reuters.“The global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair,” Guterres said. “In the face of the economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has failed to fulfill its core function as a global safety net.” Guterres made the same point on Saturday, writing in a tweet that it was “time to think seriously about the reform” of the international financial architecture. The U.N. Security Council came under fire in April when Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the 15-member body despite the fact that 141 countries condem...

Swifties rock out in the rain for 2nd night of Taylor Swift

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

Taylor Swift fans were rocking their ponchos on Saturday as they too in the musician’s second of three sold-out “Eras Tour” shows at Gillette Stadium.In total, the shows are expected to bring some 200,000 people to the venue through Sunday night.Police officials have reminded motorists that only those with tickets will be able to get near the stadium during the shows and people should prepare for traffic and seek alternate routes around the area during the concert if possible.All three Swift concerts, featuring Phoebe Bridgers and GAYLE for two shows and Bridgers and Gracie Abrams on Sunday, are set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. 

Howie Carr: Durham Report says origin of the pee-tape hoax in the Steele Dossier is proud UMass grad Charles Dolan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

It is now beyond argument that the greatest scandal in American political history was the Russian collusion hoax, a Hillary Clinton-financed insurrection against a duly-elected president by the FBI, Democrats, Russia and state-run media (but I repeat myself).Compared to this vast left-wing conspiracy, Watergate doesn’t even rate a footnote.The centerpiece of the monstrous hoax was the Democrats’ “Steele dossier.” And at the heart of that dirty trick was the so-called pee tape.That was the allegation that future president Donald J. Trump paid Russian prostitutes to urinate on a hotel bed in Moscow that the Obamas had slept on, and that a videotape of the foul deed existed.Very fake news. And everyone of Putin’s puppets with press passes knew it, from Day One.The official DOJ report on the hoax was released last week. The local angle is that Special Counsel John Durham has identified the Democrat operative who most likely made up the pee-tape story that was used in the attempted coup:...

Bill Madden: Yankees’ offense still home run or bust, Rays coming back to reality after passing 40-game quarter mark

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:01:25 GMT

With the 40-game quarter pole having just been passed, we are starting to get a good idea as to where this baseball season is headed.Things are suddenly looking up in New York for Yankees and Mets. The Rays are good but maybe not as good as they’ve seemed. The rise of the Rangers in Texas looks real, the Padre malaise in San Diego is mystifying, and the balanced schedule has exposed the great divide between the good teams and the really bad ones in places like Oakland, Washington, Kansas City, Detroit, Colorado and Cincinnati.Here’s our capsule assessment:YANKEES STILL HOME RUN OR BUSTTHE YANKEES ARE STILL FASHIONING THEIR (JUDGE) HOME RUN OR BUST OFFENSE BUT THEY’RE BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE THE SUPERIOR TEAM IN THE AL EASTTaking three out of four from the Blue Jays in Toronto to move from last place to third was very encouraging especially since Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodon, counted on as three mainstays, have been on the sidelines. The gap betw...